With a career spanning over thirty years, Senior District Safety Officer Elizabeth Motley remains crazy in love with her connection to Santa Ana College (SAC) and the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Motley's journey from a student to a safety officer demonstrates her deep-rooted connection to the college, where she not only obtained her education but also got her start in a career in law enforcement.
Motley started with the SAC family the summer before graduating high school through the Career Beginnings program. Shortly after graduating, she returned to SAC, where she began as a student worker for the campus safety department. Within a year, she was promoted to general office clerk, handling scheduling, payroll, and other clerical work. Aside from a brief period in the 1990s when she was laid off following the Orange County bankruptcy, Motley has worked as a full-time officer for over 30 years.
Chief David Waters noted that Motley's 30 years with the District have been invaluable. "She knows everyone, and they know her. This type of relationship is at the core of our Community Policing efforts, and Liz serves as a role model for newer officers."
On a typical day, Motley patrols the campus, unlocking doors for professors or aiding students with car troubles.
"It's still part of law enforcement, but it's part of the college community," said Motley. "I help our students, our staff; our visitors get where they need to go, help our students locate their classrooms on the first day of school, or jumpstart their cars if they have a dead battery, or even unlock their vehicles when they leave their keys in the car. I love making anything easier for them to progress here and get their degrees."
Chief Waters added, "Liz goes to extraordinary efforts to provide quality service to the students. I recall a time when a student reported that someone had taken their water bottle. The reusable bottle was expensive and a gift from the student's mother. Liz took the time to locate the incident on camera and found that another person had taken the bottle into a restroom, but the person walked out empty-handed. Liz then went to the restroom and sorted through the trash to find the stolen bottle."
While there have been many great memories during her past 30 years serving the Rancho Santiago Community College District, there have also been challenges.
Eight years ago, she faced a battle with breast cancer; however, after nearly a year of successful treatments, she was eager to return to work and has been cancer-free since. Motley also added that she was the first safety officer in Santa Ana College history to become a mother.
"I became a mom during my tenure here, and they were able to accommodate me," said Motley. While pregnant, she was able to work in the office and took classes to become a dispatcher and continues to fill in when other dispatchers are unavailable.
While retirement may still be a few years away, Motley's fondness for serving the students and faculty at Santa Ana College and the Rancho Santiago Community College remains unwavering. Reflecting on the possibility of retiring one day, she added, "I'm looking forward to coming back and working as a reserve officer just because I love it here and want to be part of this community". She continues, "They're probably going to think I'm crazy, but I love it and feel like with my knowledge and expertise, I can really contribute to the goals they have in mind here at the campus."
